Quasi-experiment: Impact of Learning with Digital Storytelling on Grade Eight Students' Self-efficacy in Physics in Mainland China

Abstract

<p>Physics can be regarded as an abstract and challenging subject for many secondary school students. Students’ lack of confidence when facing physics difficulties can affect their physics learning outcomes. Digital storytelling (DST) is a novel learning approach for students and can potentially equip students with a variety of twenty-first century skills needed. However, there has been little research on the impact of DST on students’ physics learning in Mainland China, particularly in the K-12 context. Moreover, although related efforts have been made, few studies have explicitly focused on students’ self-efficacy in physics studies. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the effects of learning with DST on middle school students’ self-efficacy in physics indicating students’ related confidence. In this research, there were 126 Grade 8 students from Dalian, the third-most populous city of Northeast China, participated in the project in which they learned a physics theme: pressure and buoyancy. The quantitative approach was adopted through the adjusted Physics Self-efficacy Scale questionnaire. This study found that learning with DST significantly increased grade eight students’ self-efficacy in physics, including all dimensions involved: Conceptual Theoretical Understanding (CTU), Problem-Solving (PS), Peer Collaboration (PC), Experimental Investigation (EI), Self-Efficacy in Learning Ability (SEA), and Self-Efficacy in Learning Behaviour (SEB). It is expected that this research can provide practical implications for using DST in secondary school physics education and help students improve their self-efficacy for difficult physics topics.<br></p>